Our Post-Exam Review of the October 2023 CII R06 Exam
The exam guide from the October sitting of R06 has been released by the CII, prompting us to see how we did in predicting the questions and model answers in our pre-exam analysis.
This article is correct as at 5 December 2023.
You can access the exam guide here.
Case Study 1
Case Study 1 introduced us to the retired couple David and Ruby, both aged 70.
Their financial aims were to:
- Ensure that they have a sustainable income throughout retirement.
- Consider the merits of either selling or retaining Ruby’s buy-to-let property.
- Review the suitability of their existing investment portfolio.
| Question | Our Analysis |
|---|---|
| State the additional information that a financial adviser would require in order to advise David and Ruby on the suitability of their financial arrangements to meet their long-term retirement income needs. | Our analysis included a fact-finding question on providing a sustainable income throughout retirement. The model answers to this question would have picked candidates up full marks here. |
| Explain in detail, to David and Ruby how any sale of Ruby’s buy-to-let property would be treated for Capital Gains Tax purposes. | We had anticipated this question and so again candidates using our analysis should have picked up full marks. |
| Outline the key reasons why Ruby might wish to purchase a lifetime annuity with the proceeds of her personal pension plan. | The benefits of Ruby purchasing an annuity were covered in detail within the analysis. |
| Identify the key reasons why the holding in the UK commercial property unit trust may not be suitable for David and Ruby | We had considered the disadvantages of holding a UK commercial property fund in detail. |
| Recommend and justify a range of actions that David and Ruby could take to improve the tax-efficiency of their current financial arrangements | We are pleased to say we had also covered this exact question in our analysis. |
| Explain in detail, to David and Ruby, how appropriate powers of attorney could be set up and how they would operate to assist them with managing their affairs in future | We had provided model answers to the question ‘Explain in detail to David and Ruby how appropriate powers of attorney may be set up and the benefits of doing so as well as any restrictions that may apply to these’. Candidates who studied the model answers could have picked up full marks here. |
Case Study 2
Onto case study two where we met Ravi and Chloe, both aged 32 with two young children.
Their financial aims were to:
- Improve the suitability and tax efficiency of their current financial arrangements.
- Review their affordability to maintain their regular savings plan.
- Improve their use of tax allowances.
| Question | Our Analysis |
|---|---|
| Identify the key client-specific factors which may prevent Ravi and Chloe from meeting their financial objectives. | Whilst we had not covered this specific question most of the points from our ‘Comment on’ and ‘Factors’ questions around Ravi and Chloe’s protection needs could have been adapted to answer this question. |
| Explain to Ravi and Chloe how the Marriage Allowance could be used to improve their current tax position | This subject was expected and we had included this exact question in our analysis. |
| Explain to Ravi and Chloe why it is important for them to continue to make regular savings into their Stocks and Shares ISA’s. | The tax benefits of ISAs had been highlighted throughout the analysis although the benefits of a S&S ISA specifically is not a question we had anticipated in its own right. We hope that well-prepared candidates would have used their knowledge of ISAs to answer this successfully. |
| Explain to Ravi and Chloe the actions that they could take when their fixed-rate mortgage deal expires in December, to ensure that their mortgage payments continue to be affordable. | Within our analysis, we had considered the use of the gift to reduce their mortgage and our email support Q&A had covered the benefits of an offset mortgage. |
| Identify the key areas of weakness in Ravi and Chloe’s current financial protection arrangements. | We had analysed the adequacy of their protection arrangements in detail. |
| Recommend and justify a suitable protection policy to provide a regular income in the event of Ravi suffering a long-term illness and explain how this could be set up in an affordable manner. | We had recommended and justified why Ravi should set up a PHI policy. We had not considered the angle of setting up the plan for a very short period as the CII had in their model answers. |
| Identify eight key issues that a financial adviser should discuss with Ravi and Chloe at their next annual review. | Our analysis included a number of review question model answers which could have been used to gain most of the marks on offer. |
The technical questions around David and Ruby’s financial circumstances had been clearly highlighted in the case study so those candidates who had identified and revised these technical subjects thoroughly should have scored high marks on this section of the exam.
There were twists on some of the questions in Case Study 2, which may have thrown the unprepared candidate, but overall, this was a standard R06 paper without any major curveballs to negotiate.
We are sure that candidates who prepared well and used our analysis would have gained a very good mark.
Grab the resources you need!
If you’re studying for your CII R06 exam, and you’re wanting to feel more confident on exam day, grab our free taster analysis to try out one of Brand Financial Training’s resources for yourself. Click the link to download the R06 case study analysis taster now!
